The Bruery (2024)

American-style Imperial stout with Vanilla beans, Banana, Marshmallow, & Graham Cracker.

I want to submit the name "Hard Pass" but don't want to be a dick...

 

Personally I don't like bananas, so the influx of banana beers from them hasn't been my favorite... But I also realize it's a me thing

 

The bananas are 100% the reason for my hard pass.

Other than that... if it were a non-BA Imp Stout with vanilla, mallow, graham... I dunno... it's just very forgettable. Like it's probably fine? But just blends into all the others.

 

The graham is a hard pass for me. Shit always tastes like chemicals.

 

For me it is both the banana and graham. Never had a beer that I really liked with graham, and just not a banana fan. The Bourbon County this year wasn't bad, but would have been better minus banana IMO.

 

I'm not offended by graham cracker... but nor have I felt like it ever adds much I can notice. I mean, it can only taste like whatever flavoring the manufacturer puts in, which to @stealth 's point is likely artificial flavors like vanilla, etc.

Other than that, I reckon the added sugar just ferments out clean. And is the grain anything special?

Well, I just learned on Wikipedia that in fact "graham flour" is a specific form of wheat... though it sounds like it's characterized more by being coarse ground than anything else - which makes sense for the texture of a cracker, and is pointless in a beer. If they used some kind of artisanal graham flour, vs just dumping in boxes of Honey Maid (or whatever), maybe I'd be more interested... and maybe that's what they actually do, but saying "graham cracker" is just easier to explain on the label?

 

Hoping someone can dive some tasting notes on allocations, especially M Floater

 

Now that I've finally received my February beers - First Light is fucking tremendous. Outstanding barrel and banana blend.

 

BTGR 21 still phenomenal, in case anyone was wondering.

 

Anyone ever get a little buzzed and buy something stupid with very little research? I had one of those moments last weekend...I checked in with a beer here in Iowa and got the untappd add for the Reserved Society and boom, I'm in. So I have a few questions:

1. If I look under "Orders", I see an order that is unfulfilled. This is the 12 bottle box that comes with the membership. When should I expect this to be shipped?
2. I've never had one beer from The Bruery. I don't expect to go crazy with ordering hundreds of dollars worth of beer each month. Is there something I should be doing? Is there some method? e.g. saving up bottles and shipping them all at once to get the shipping discount?
3. I have a work trip coming up in a couple of months. This will put me about 20 miles from The Bruery, so I plan on stopping. Anything I should do/know?

 

Your membership has you receiving beers each month, that is the unfilled orders that you are seeing from January, February and March. You will most likely want to ship your beers when you hit a full case to take advantage of the savings. You also get a discount on any beers you choose to purchase in addition to the included ones. Welcome to the club!

 

$312.98 1 Unfulfilled I'm assuming this is the case I'm supposed to get when I signed up?

 

Except I think mid-year they've sometimes done Reserve membership where you get a curated box of 12 archive beers all at once instead of the current year's monthly releases. Maybe that's what this guy got?

 

Yes, your membership let's you buy stuff you want throughout the year and they will cellar it until Feb 2025.

Shipping in increments of 12 is the sweet spot for efficiency. If you end up with 13 bottles in your cellar that last bottle will be expensive AF. Also, four packs of cans are shipped differently... The 12 bottle shipper is any combo of 750ml bottle, 375ml bottle, or single 16oz can.

If you're going to pick up in person you have to email them ahead of time. 48 hours maybe? I forget.

Welcome to the club!

 

Yeah, they have a Reserve Society Select membership. That gets you a box of 12 curated beers immediately (instead of a new beer every month like normal Reserve Society), and then you have access to purchase Reserve Society beers for the rest of the year. That sounds like this. I would imagine that the box of 12 would ship out soon after ordering for that membership.

 

This is my exact thought when I see any beer with bananas in it. "Ooooh, a new stout... oh, bananas. Hard pass."

 

Depends if purchase included shipping or not. The orders page showing "unfulfilled" just means they still have his beer.

But if the case shows up in his cellar that probably means he has to pay for shipping or pickup in person.

If in any doubt just email [email protected] and they are usually fast and helpful.

 

Ah, good point! Didn't consider cellaring the 12 pack.